On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 13:44:48 -0500, FACE
wrote:

Thank you for non-scolding answers,

Fat chance!

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/c...g_dogwood.html

does not answer your specific questions, but sounds athoritative
enough to be worth following up with e-mail or phone call. I'm sorry
you have to prune your tree. Some rather unpleasant neighbors sheared
my large old dogwood straight up and down along the property line some
years ago, and it recovered over time with no noticable insect or
disease damage. The cuts were not sealed with anything. This was/is in
SE Virginia, where there are dogwoods all over the place. Good luck.